A federal monitor overseeing the Rikers Island jails is demanding answers from the city Department of Correction, saying that new information about a detainee’s death on Monday conflicts with the account offered by department officials.
Correction Commissioner Louis Molina initially told the federal monitor that medical personnel saw detainee Joshua Valles, 31, after he complained of headaches, and that he was then hospitalized with what appeared to be a heart attack. Molina had said that no foul play occurred and that there was “no official wrongdoing,” according to court papers.
But monitor Steve Martin said in a federal court filing last week that he doubted “the veracity of the department’s claims.” And on Wednesday, Martin wrote a follow-up letter to the court saying that an autopsy indicated that Valles actually died as a result of a fractured skull, “in stark contrast to the headache or ‘non-incident related condition or injury’ that was reported in the unit logbook.”
Martin also revealed on Wednesday that he learned from the correction department’s general counsel that Valles was involved in a fight at the jail in mid-April, though no injuries were reported.
According to Martin, the Department of Investigation is now probing Valles’ death and four other “disturbing” incidents involving violence and a lack of transparency that Martin reported to the judge last week. The incidents, which the monitor said indicate that people at Rikers are at “imminent risk of harm,” also include the suicide of a detainee, the hospitalization of a detainee in his 80s after correction officers used force on him, and the paralysis of a man attacked by other detainees.
The correction department has not provided more information about those incidents, and did not respond to a question about the circumstances behind Valles’ death. Spokesperson Patrick Rocchio said the incident is under internal investigation.
Martin also said that given the latest…
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